Category Archives: 50-something moms blog

Yes, I am trying to find my way back here regularly. Be patient, I am working on it. And as I was thinking about how I strive to always reach my own expectations of what the perfect me is supposed to be, the following video came up in my Facebook stream.

Today I will bring you one of the best things that came out of starting this blog… meeting Darylle Pollack. Our paths crossed in such crazy ways. First we blogged together at the now defunct 50-something mom blog (where I lied about my age at 49 to get in, how funny is that?). Then on some crazy winter day when my daughter was a freshman at UW, I tweeted something about the weather gods being kind so my daughter could get out of Madison safely. Moments later I received a tweet back from Darryle that she, too, had a kid there. From then on we became instant friends.

Everyone should have a Darryle in their lives. So today I am sharing her with you. Enjoy.

Sure, I have vision. I am a designer, for G-d sake, vision is my business. But I am not talking about the capital V kind of Vision today, I am talking about eyesight.

This story starts over 26 years ago – half my life has passed since this tale began. In some Magnet for the Absurd – and in this case Unfortunate –twist of fate, I contracted Viral Keratoconjunctivits on none other than my honeymoon. Yeh, go ahead and make the ‘if you do IT to much you will go blind’ jokes all you want, but this is serious, kiddies. This bizarre eye infection left me with a scarred cornea.

Permanently.

I know, kind of sucks.

Don’t feel too bad for me though, because with both eyes open I don’t really notice it all that much. But I always worry that if anything happens to my right eye I might hope that good ole Iko can be trained as a guide dog.

Fast forward to this month when on the recommendation of my opthalmologist, I went to see a cornea specialist. After telling him my tale he asked me how long I had been married. ’26 years’, I told him. ’26 years!? And you are first coming to see me now?’, he asked. (wiseass). After explaining he is the 3rd guy to get a crack at this problem he went ahead and solved it like no one else was able to.

Basically, I am having a corrective gas permeable, or ‘hard’, lens made that with a fluid barrier is able to cut down on the light refraction that causes the blurred vision from the scarring and for the first time in 26 years I will have 20/20 vision in my left eye.

Have I mentioned this has been half my life?!

So, yeh, I did get a bit choked up in the chair when I realized this last week. Now more psychedelic topographic mapping tests and numbing drops later I have one week and then the custom lens will be ready to rock and roll.

If you read me regularly you have noticed that I also write over at 50-Something Moms Blog. I have been part of the SV Moms Group community for almost two years and consider them a family of sorts. Or as Gary likes to refer to them, my satan-worshipping blog friends.

As far as I can tell, none of them are actual satan-worshippers. Instead they are hundreds of moms – and a few dads with a strong sense of their masculinity – who write about everything from parenting to politics. The blogs are segmented geographically with one demographic group – the must current group of 50-somethings I have ever met!

In the background we are members of a thriving discussion board where we offer support, help promote one another, network and collaborate. Never before have I worked within such an amazing group.

I have been in business for many years. I have watched moms struggle with every aspect of the collision of parenting and career – be it the choice to continue working or the option to stay home. As part of this group I have watched and listened. At times I have given council and at others I have been taught by the masters. When I needed an answer or a resource on any topic, they were my go-to group and there was always someone who would jump in and help me out.

It is with great sadness that I report the SVMoms Group is dissolving the site. The bloggers were all notified at around 3:00 PM EST on Monday. Within 6 hours a new alumni community was formed on Ning with members immediately joining by the dozens. I would imagine the whole group will migrate there within a day or so. This is a network that will not dissolve.

So, to the Sisterhood of the SVMoms I show my deepest gratitude for having been a part of something so very special. And to our fearless leaders, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for inviting me to be a part of something so life-changing. (oh yeh, and letting me lie about my age for the first year I was writing on 50-something).

Yes, there will surely be a hole in the blogosphere where we once lived!